Posts Tagged ‘MBTA’

A man attempted to steal a 440-pound bomb mitigation barrel from the Shawmut MBTA station on Monday but was arrested soon afterwards, officials said.

A caller reported around 2 p.m. that a man, later identified as Patrick Beech, 23, of Roxbury, had taken the barrel from the station and was pushing it on a dolly covered by a blue blanket.

The silver-colored barrel, which is used for trash disposal, limits the impact of explosive devices, said MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo.

MBTA Transit Police officers found Beech at the corner of Pleasant and Hancock Streets in Dorchester. According to a police report, he told officers that he had found the barrel on the side of the road.

He told the officers he had seen the barrels on television and heard they didn’t work, so he decided to take it. He was planning to take the device to a warehouse.

He was arrested on a charge of larceny over $250. Beech was released last night without bail, and did not attend his arraignment hearing today, a spokesman for Suffolk district attorney’s office said. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

The MBTA today launched a survey asking customers whether people should be required to fold their baby strollers before boarding a bus, after some customers complained and a review found that other major transit systems have such a rule.

During recent “Join the GM” sessions at various MBTA stations, officials found that riders’ biggest complaint was strollers, said T spokesman Joe Pesaturo.

General Manager Richard A. Davey then requested staff members to look into stroller policies at other transit systems throughout the nation.

MBTA officials found that open strollers were prohibited on buses in four of the five systems they reviewed. The Chicago Transit Authority was the only system that didn’t prohibit open strollers – and officials there are reviewing the policy.

Those opposing the idea have taken to Twitter – saying that strollers keep kids safe and help mothers who need to use public transportation. They have also pointed out that riders with large luggage and other parcels take up equal room.

“It’s definitely mixed. There are people with strong feelings on both sides of this,” said Pesaturo. “As the GM has said, and the MBTA website says, your opinion matters, and that’s what will drive this.”

The survey is available here and will be active for the next two weeks, officials said.

Transit Police made two significant arrests yesterday, when the accused instigator of an April 11 attack on a bus driver surrendered and a man on the state Probation Service’s most wanted list was captured.

Brian Donovan of Dedham, 18, turned himself in yesterday morning at MBTA police headquarters in Boston to face charges that he attacked a driver who asked him to stop smoking.

After being interviewed, he was arrested on charges of assault and battery on a public employee and wrongful interference with a bus driver, Deputy Chief Joseph O’Connor said.

Police suspect that the incident was triggered by Donovan’s smoking.

“He certainly was involved from the very beginning,” said O’Connor.

Once the driver asked Donovan to put out the cigarette, he and three or four others assaulted the driver, officials said. The driver lost control and crashed into a building on Dudley Street near Vine Street in Roxbury.

The wrongful interference charge is classified as a felony. The maximum penalty for a conviction is up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

O’Connor said the investigation is ongoing, and he hopes others involved come forward with more information.

Donovan is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Roxbury District Court. Two others have already been charged in the assault.

Also yesterday, a Transit Police officer arrested a Dorchester man outside Andrew Station in South Boston after he appeared this week on the list of most wanted probation violators. Samuel Nelson of Dorchester, 23, was arrested shortly before 11 a.m. on a warrant for armed masked robbery, home invasion, and several other counts.

A Dedham man turned himself in to authorities today to face charges that he attacked an MBTA bus driver who had asked him to stop smoking, in a bizarre incident that ended with the bus crashing into a building and pinning the foot of another suspect.

Brian Donovan, 18, is the third person to face charges in the April 11 incident.

Donovan turned himself in to MBTA Transit Police headquarters. After being interviewed, he was arrested for assault and battery on a a public employee and wrongful interference with a bus driver, Deputy Chief Joseph O’Connor said.

Police believe that it was Donovan’s smoking that triggered the incident. “He certainly was involved from the very beginning,” O’Connor said.

The wrongful interference charge is classified as a felony. The maximum penalty for a conviction is up to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.

O’Connor said the investigation continues, and he hopes others involved will come forward with more information.

A man who threatened to shoot riders on an MBTA bus Tuesday morning was arraigned today in Dorchester District Court on a variety of charges, officials said.

Though the man, Jauan T. Bristow, 27, did not have a gun, he faces charges that include assault with a dangerous weapon, threats to commit a crime, and interfering with public transportation. He was held on $50,000 cash bail and faces revocation of his probation on a previous case, Suffolk prosecutors said in a statement.

The operator of the bus told police that Bristow was in the back of the bus and threatened to shoot everyone on the bus, including children, if the operator didn’t start driving, according to an MBTA Transit Police report.

Bristow then began walking toward the front of the bus with his hand on his bag, which contained, he claimed, a a Glock pistol. The operator opened the doors of the bus for the riders to exit and called the Operation Control Center to request the police.

Police responded to Cummins Highway and Brockton Street in Mattapan at about 8:35 a.m. When police arrived, they saw riders running away from the bus toward Mattapan Square and pointing to the bus. As officers approached the rear of the vehicle, Bristow put his hands in the air and said, “It was me, I did it, I threaten [sic] the people with the gun,” according to the report.

Bristow was then arrested and transported to Transit Police headquarters.

Service from Brigham Circle to Heath Street on the E branch of the MBTA’s Green Line is temporarily disabled following an accident involving a trolley and two cars, MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said.

The accident occurred when a car tried to fit in between a stopped trolley and another automobile on Huntington Avenue and got stuck, he said. The crash was minor and there were no injuries, Pesaturo said in an emailed statement.

MBTA posted a service alert a few minutes before 5 p.m., suggesting that passenges make use of the Route 39 bus between Heath and Brigham Circle.